the cones

[leah28racing]

Does anyone else besides me and half the figure 8 drivers that ive asked think it's dangerous if the cones are out of place, their should be a yellow thrown?

If a car happens to pick up a cone thats on the track and gets caught underneath the car and the driver cant turn their car because of this, they can hit the wall and get really hurt. 2 races this year that i can recall more than 3 cones were knocked onto the track and no caution was thrown.
Shouldn't it be a safey precaution? This was brought to an officials attention and he seems to think that there is no need to throw a yellow.

PLEASE VOICE YOUR OPINION.... FOR THOSE WHO DO NOT WANT TO SEE A DRIVER HURT OVER A CONE BEING ON THE TRACK PLEASE REPLY TO THIS THREAD. HELP THESE DRIVERS SHOW THE OFFICALS THAT THIS HAS TO BE CHANGED, :help::help::help::help::help::help::help::help:

[Ka$h25]

Fastening them down is an option. Obviously you would have to come up with some kind of softer pilon that won't do damage to the cars.

Or if you really want to get creative, get rid of them. I'd like to know how many times are they knocked off by illegal passes compared to being knocked off by being forced down.

Your head is in the right place, if it's a safety concern, something needs to be done. However as it stands, I can't imagine throwing a caution every time the come comes off. It's a pretty sloppy division to begin with, they don't need cautions for cones.

[leah28racing]

i guess when someone gets hurt, that's when something will be done i guess.

[jeffrey]

I have never seen a driver get hert by hitting one of the cones.I could be wrong tho.they put the cones up because of one driver.down town george brown.he was always in the dirt trying to make a pass.so the track came up with the cones to try to keep him up out of the dirt.if you hit one of the cones you where to be put in the back.thats why we always called him down town.all the drivers should get together and ask the track to take down the cones for a race or 2.and see what happens.if it dosent work they could always put them back up.

[leah28racing]

im not talking about taking them away for good because i knowwww thats not gonna happen. what im saying is it could happen that a driver gets hurt god forbid the cone gets knocked on the course and they run it over ,gets stuck and not be able to stear their racecar and could hit the wall or someone else witout being meant too.

[The Bullfather]

I don't remember cones being up when Downtown George Brown raced at Islip and Riverhead in the 80's.

[Ka$h25]

Jeffrey, I'm not so sure they were put in place for any specific driver. And why does someone have to get hurt before changes are made? Just because it hasn't happened yet, doesn't mean it can't. I still don't think cautions are the answer, but I do agree something should be done.

[The Bullfather]

would used tires work if they were placed lower in the turns???

[randomrodder]

Nothing short of concrete blocks are going to stop these drivers from passing outside the lines when they are on a roll. Nothing. They come across the X and the cars back up as they go arond turn 4, someone is going outside or inside the pack come heck or high water. Only way to put a stop to it is by video recording and docking of points for every car they pass outside of the "boundry" lines. End of story.

[RickFigure8]

First off it's doubtful a cone is going to get stuck in a way to cause someone to hit the wall that way. Stuck under the chassis dragging yes, but not under a wheel. If anything I feel a caution should be thrown so the thing could be put back where it belongs because as soon as they are gone there's at least two guys who immediately start going 4 wheels under the lines, and I have proof on my tapes. As far as being pushed down into the cones, most of the time it's because someone drifted way out coming off the previous turn and then tried to get back into that low groove. Sometimes the guy who is next to you moves over to let you in and sometimes he don't. You either push him over to get yourself in or you back off and drop behind him, but hitting the cones is still your fault. The cones are one of the better ideas over the years and should remain there. And yes the cones were first used after George had stopped running regularly. It was because of a few other drivers. I don't think the nickname Downtown George Brown had anything to do with racing. Back then in the late eighties MTV had Downtown Julie Brown who did MTV News and Club MTV. Finan and Calinoff just started it and it caught on.

[Tower Man]

Forget the cones,(IMO), and put an official in each corner. If a car goes 4 wheels below the white line, take away whatever he or she gained on the next caution. If no cautions come out, take it away from the finish.

There are plenty of videos to confirm the infraction.

That's how it was done from 1999 to 2002.

[Duke22]

Rick, do you really think the cones were a good idea? I still think they cause more wrecks. When you're in the bottom lane and the guy on the outside chops you, they always do, you have the option of cutting down and avoiding a wreck with no cones. With the cones, you hope the outside guy knows you're there, but if he chops, you really just hold on and hope you make it out with no damage.

I thought the speed bumps were a better idea. How about adding higher bumps below the line and adding a Daytona/Dega rule about passing under the line?

[leah28racing]

Everyone has been guilty of going below the lines.but sometimes is forced down there too. Bottom line those cones are gonna cause accidents. Whether someone swerves out of the way to miss it and hit another car. or can't drive their car as normal.

[Golf Guy]

Being the perverted individual that I am, when I saw a thread about cones I was thinking this was about something entirely different...

[leah28racing]

so once again those cones......AND IT DID GET STUCK UNDER SPECHTS WHEEL

[CRog00]

so once again those cones......AND IT DID GET STUCK UNDER SPECHTS WHEEL

Yes and the caution should've been thrown once Paul parked the car but they waited a lap instead.

[KnK Racing]

bottom line for those cones is that they should get like a tractor tire(s) and put them going in the corners and coming off. i seen they did it at Irwindale Speedway on SPEED.

[Ka$h25]

There are two factors to consider.

1. Something soft. Something that will not do damage to the car has got to be the main priority.

2. Track hazard. It would be nice if we could find something that will not be kicked up onto the race track and cause a caution.

That being said, I think the answer is some kind of foam pylon or something constructed of styrofoam.

[Tower Man]

Lake Erie uses big tractor tires. It's hard to see the entire corner because they are so high and so big.

[Ka$h25]

Yeah, I have trouble imagining any kind of large object being put in place. I'd rather take my chances of the cone getting stuck under my tire then being stuffed into a large tire. After giving my last post more thought I really think an NFL-like endzone pylon could do the job.

[CSLMOTORSPORTS]

The reason the cones keep getting hit is the drivers know it wont do any damage.So if you want it to stop you have to put something there that the drivers wont want to hit ,we all know as drivers we will take advantage of the situation if it not going to affect the outcome.It has to be something that the drivers do not want to hit or if you hit it you get a penalty back spots or what ever.NASCAR has its yellow lines at big tracks Martinsville has its curb not a penalty but you sure dont want to hit it,pit road has its cones hit it get a penalty.but what ever they do it has to stand.Put a big tire there and i bet not many will hit it they will run on the track not on the apron. Just my thoughts on this.
Scott Lehmann

[racerwife]

OK... from Paul Spechts' interpretation of what everyone is griping and writing about...
The cones were originally supposed to be put a half car width below the line on the 2 entrance corners. If you touch, knock over or move the cones, you are penalized either being put to the rear during a caution flag lap or you are supposed to be last car on the lead lap, or back 2 spots in the finishing order, up to the officials discretion.
As for Saturday nights incident, Paul cut/flattened a tire as he went into the turn, spun and then the car stalled. He was unable to move it, and was trying to re-fire the engine when the field was approaching him again. Then and only then was a caution thrown! His car finally re-fired but not before the field was upon him and he was in danger. (This part I did not see, I had left to change a tire.. I was told this and have it also on tape) The cone was not the problem but the flat tire/stalled engine was what made him actually go at least 1 lap down.
Paul didn't know he had a cone under the car till Jim Maggio removed it.
The cones were put there years ago before most of the infield was black-topped, to stop the cars from cutting the corner and spraying sand and debris across the racing surface making it slick, causing the grip and traction of all the cars behind to be affected adversely. It also helped to stop some of the flat tires damaged by the thrown debris on the track. Then the cones became a hazard, and shortly after they were removed for a short period of time. At some point during the cone non-cone time-frame, a car cut the corner, threw the debris on the track... another car coming along hit the sand/debris lost control and ended up hitting the gate, OPENING IT UP and it hit the officials standing on the ramp. Many people were hurt... then the white line rule was brought up... if you go below the line you got penalized... more discrepancies( I didn't go below the line)... so... we have the cones back. If you hit, touch, knock over or move the cone you get the penalty (at the tracks discretion).
Continued on....

[racerwife]

Continuation...
For those of us who were there the night of the accident, we,(the drivers), would much rather have the inconveinence of running over a cone than witnessing or being the reason that someone is hurt. Let alone ever seeing another accident like that one.

Pauls' final words are ... WHY IS IT THAT NONE OF THE DRIVERS MAKE COMMENTS ABOUT THIS SORT OF THING ON THE JAM??? He says most of what is written is well intentioned but some comments are from those not informed or unaware of why things are as they are. You only need to ask most of the drivers who have been around for some years to get accurate informed answers to your questions.

Karen
(I'm only the typist)

[KnK Racing]

i was talking to my father about what should happen about the cones. he said that they should take a few tractor tires and put them where the cones are. yea people brought that up but take the tires and put them 1/2 way in the pavment like where the bumps are. they wont go all the way around the turn just part of the figure 8 cours. also to get them going in to the corners and coming off the corners. with them being in the ground at least half way drivers can see the other parts of the track and it will not effect the oval divisons

[RacinRob]

people are upset about hitting cones? Cones are more forgiving than tractor tires remember.

[Fig8 T.K.]

I cannot understand why the cones are becoming a problem now. They have been there for years and I cannot remember them causing any big wrecks or injury to a driver. I do not see any driver constantly hitting the cones to gain position on the track. I have seen drivers forced down into the cones or hit them to avoid someone spinning and personally I would rather there be cones there then something big that is going to damage my car. A perfect example was this Sat. night when Paul got a flat and hit a cone. How much time and money would he have to spend this week if that was some big truck tire instead of a cone? As Racin Rob said the cones are much more forgiving. Why don't we pick our battles carefully with things that really need to be fixed? Like I said to begin with why is this a problem now?

T.K.